Science doesn't have an answer for everything in life. From observation, study, analysis, and research, conclusions are reached that are subjected to discussion and scrutiny by the scientific community. With this method, we have reached the limits of the solar system, we have extended life expectancy by almost 40 years in the last century, smallpox has been eradicated thanks to vaccines; the reduction of infant mortality in the most developed countries has been very significant, diseases such as cancer or AIDS are fought to the point that they have ceased to be a death sentence in a high percentage of cases.
Despite this, we regularly encounter people who, without any proof, without any study, without accepting any debate, become leaders of people who, lacking valid references or critical sense, are willing to follow any theory that sounds good to them.
It doesn't matter if they advise sunbathing during peak solar radiation hours without protection, propose drinking bleach to cure COVID, getting under a duvet with a heater next to it to lower a fever, or stop drinking water or carbohydrates to lose weight, there are always people willing to believe and try.
I won't shirk responsibility. Part of the problem is that healthcare professionals haven't been as credible as necessary, and we've allowed anyone to write the narrative about health. Sadly, much more visibility is given to errors or negligence when committed by a professional than when done by an "enlightened" individual, and the opposite happens when, faced with the thousands of diagnoses and treatments that save lives, there is a very high number of people who die or are severely affected by treatments or advice from those who practice by belief, making the saying "a tree makes more noise when it falls than a forest that grows" true.
We also live in a culture where healers, shamans, herbalists, santeros, etc., have followers who trust them more than doctors, pharmacists, nurses, physiotherapists, or dentists, in short: trained and qualified healthcare professionals.
We saw an example this week. Announcing that the use of paracetamol by pregnant women causes autism. The justification given is either causal or simply a lie. Causal because the fact that there are more autistic children now than before may be due to too many factors that would have to be assessed: the limitations for diagnosis in the past, the very definition of autism, the use of pesticides, changes in diet, the increase in the age of motherhood and fatherhood,... could be the cause or not of autism, but until we know the real cause of this disorder, it is difficult to know how to treat it to cure it. Thus, for the moment, only its effects are treated.
That's why it's false that there is a cure, just as it's false that there is no autism in Cuba. The government of the Caribbean island recognizes few things, but it boasts of having clinics and specialists with innovative therapies for people on that spectrum.
And the problem with this is not only that the measures these enlightened individuals propose may or may not improve a patient, it is the risk it poses to the lives of these people and those in their care.
Recommending that pregnant women do not take a safe medication, with mild side effects for a minimum number of people, encouraging expectant mothers to suffer fever, pain, or inflammation as if it were just an inconvenience, is hiding from them that they run the risk of congenital anomalies, complications in pregnancy, or spontaneous abortion.
And these dangerous tips, which are presented as absolute truth, are given by an economist and a lawyer, without providing a single piece of data, a single study, or a single medical opinion.
In the end, everything is based on belief or occurrence, which finds resonance in ignorance.
From all pharmacy modalities, but especially from teaching, community pharmacy, and public health, we are accustomed to the most outlandish theories about care and health, but we never cease to be surprised.
I will not hide that science has been wrong on multiple occasions, but it has the virtue of always questioning and rectifying itself.
That the truth doesn't spoil a good headline is a bad maxim of journalism, but it is a terrible advice for health. Belief is a lottery; the scientific method is the result of study, verification, and debate, and here, each one must decide if they want to play with their health.